Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. Quakers are counted among the historic peace churches, and have congregations scattered across the world. Since its origin in England, Quakerism has spread to other countries, chiefly the United States, Kenya and Bolivia. The number of Quakers in the world is relatively small (approximately 600,000), although there are places, such as Philadelphia, PA US, in which Quaker influence is concentrated.

Names

Various names have been used for the Friends movement and its adherents. These include:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Seekers
• Saints
• Children of the light
• Friends of the Truth
• Quakers
• Religious Society of Friends
• Society of Friends

In the first few years of the movement, Quakers thought of themselves as the restoration (or at least part of it) of the true Christian church after centuries of apostasy. For this reason, during this period they often referred to themselves as simply the "saints" or the "children of light". Another common name was "Friends of the Truth", reflecting the central importance in early Quaker theology of Christ as an Inner light that shows you your true condition.

Related Topics:
Apostasy - Inner light

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The name "Quaker" was first used in 1650, when preacher George Fox was brought before Justice Bennet of Derby on a charge of blasphemy. According to Fox's journal, Bennet "called us Quakers because we bid them tremble at the word of God." (Here Fox would have meant Christ by "word of God"; see Beliefs and practices of Friends.) Indeed, early Friends did tremble and shake at their meetings, and spent many pamphlets defending "quaking" as a biblical phenomenon. Some Friends (including Fox) disliked the name, but it began to stick nonetheless. There was apparently an attempt after a 1654 meeting in Leicestershire to become known as the "children of light", but this was not successful.

Related Topics:
1650 - George Fox - Derby - Blasphemy - Beliefs and practices of Friends - 1654 - Leicestershire

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The name "Religious Society of Friends" came many years later, in the 18th century. This remains the official name to this day, although often "Quakers" is added in parentheses for the sake of clarity. Also, there are some Friends, usually in unprogrammed meetings, who object to the word "religious" and refer to themselves as part of the "Society of Friends". There are some monthly meetings that for this reason do not include "religious" in their name, while most larger Quaker organizations, such as yearly meetings, use the full name.

Related Topics:
18th century - Quaker organizations - Yearly meetings

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~